Yield For Nothing
by Ceiphied Knight
Summary: Repo! The Genetic Opera AU. Prompt for this year's Rumbelle Secret Santa. Pain, angst, maiming, blood, sex.


**YIELD FOR NOTHING**

Prompt: Repo! The Genetic Opera AU

Pairing: Rumbelle (and Rum being an idiot. Rum/Idiocy should be its own ship.)

Rating: NC-17/R. Rated for violence, blood, maiming, light swearing and sex.

Word Count: 5,484

Note to klinej:

I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THE ANGST IT JUST HAPPENED PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!

* * *

"Papa, is that you?"

Bae's weak voice called down the stairs from his room, and Rum froze. Looking up into the large mirror just above the mantle, he checked once more to make sure that all of the blood and other unsavory leftovers from his job were sufficiently cleaned off.

"Yes, Bae," he finally answered, beginning to ascend the staircase. "It's me."

He let himself into his son's room and saw the boy, small for fourteen, curled up on his bed. His face was ashen, and he was covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

Rum rushed to his side and dipped a rag into some cool water on a nearby table.

"Bae, did you take your medicine today?"

"Sorry, papa," the boy replied in a ragged voice, "I forgot. I was waiting for you to get home and I lost track of time. You were out so late tonight…"

"I know, son," Rum cut him off. "And I'm sorry. But you know that my job can keep me out into the wee hours. You must remember to take your medicine, even if I'm not home."

At Bae's crestfallen expression, Rum sighed. "What if I hired a nanny of sorts? Someone to keep you company and make sure you're well fed and get your medicine when I'm not around?"

Bae frowned and said, "I don't want a nanny. I want my father."

Rum had no reply for that. So he silently patted his son on the head and rose to leave the sickly child to sleep.

Bae would have to understand…someday.

* * *

"Belle!" Cora Mills snapped at her young intern, causing the girl to trip over her own feet.

"Yes, Ms. Mills?" Belle replied, her lilting accent as kind as always. Cora often wondered why she had even hired the girl for such a coveted internship as the one at GeneCo. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people vying to get a foot in the door of the enormous corporation. And yet Cora's most dedicated employee had taken a liking to the girl and, in a rare moment of weakness, Cora had acquiesced.

"I need you to make a list of this week's defaulted payments. The first timers. Have it delivered to Regina's office by close of business today."

"Right away, ma'am," Belle was all smiles, her blue eyes sparkling, as she left to carry out her boss' orders.

As Belle left Cora's opulent office, she passed by Mr. Gold, who was just letting himself in. Belle knew that Mr. Gold had a reputation as a ruthless man who always got what he wanted…but he had always been kind to her. In fact, Belle often wondered why he was not the President and CEO of GeneCo. People seemed to respect him as much as they feared him, and yet fear was the only factor that Cora seemed to have on her side. Fear and manipulation kept her adult daughter, Regina, as a pawn of the company. And Belle thought it must be the only thing keeping Mr. Gold from perhaps starting his own organ transplant company.

She also found herself wondering if there was some reason he couldn't. Some reason that he had to work for Cora.

Pushing those upsetting thoughts from her mind, Belle went on to create the list of defaulted clients. After all, she was lucky to even have this internship…

"I have one for you," Cora said, throwing a file folder down in front of Gold. "I believe this one should please you."

Looking warily at Cora as he opened the file, Gold gasped.

"Jones," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"That's right," Cora confirmed, her smile thin and snake-like. "He's three months behind on his payments. The experimental hand we gave him must be repossessed."

This time, Gold had no qualms about his duties.

"It'll be my pleasure."

* * *

On his way out, file in hand, Gold saw Belle French hunched over a filing cabinet. An idea struck him, so he interrupted her before he lost his nerve.

"Excuse me, Miss French," he said, "may I have a word?"

Belle's head jerked up, her mouth open in a surprised little "o." "Of course, Mr. Gold!" she said, smiling and following him down a hall a bit to an empty conference room.

Gold pulled out a chair for the intern and then took the seat opposite her.

"Miss French," he began, but was immediately interrupted.

"Please, Mr. Gold, call me Belle."

Gold smiled and said, "Fine, then, Belle it is. Now, Belle, I understand that you're an unpaid intern. Things being what they are, I was wondering if you'd be interested in an opportunity to make some money on the side?"

Belle blinked at him and then said, "I would love a paying job. Even part time. I have debts, just like so many others right now. The little money I get comes from a shop my father owns. What do you suggest?"

"I have a son," Gold went on, without preamble. "I was married for a short time, and the only good thing to come out of it was my boy. He's fourteen, and his name is Bae. He's…ill. It would put my mind at ease if he had a caretaker."

"A caretaker?" Belle inquired. "What exactly would that entail?"

"My job here keeps me out very late, so all I would require is for you to leave here and go straight to my home. I'd provide you with your own key and the code to the alarm. You'd make sure Bae has a hearty meal and you'd administer his medication. Then put him to bed. That's really all I require."

Belle was thoughtful for a moment. "That sounds easy enough," she finally said. "His illness…what if something happens while you're gone?"

Gold was somber as he said, "You would take him to the hospital immediately, and then call me."

Belle nodded.

"And then there's the matter of payment," Gold said, reaching into his jacket. He pulled out a money clip stuffed with bills and placed the entire stack in front of Belle.

"I don't understand…" Belle began, but was interrupted by Gold waving a hand as if handing hundreds of dollars over to women he barely knew was a common occurrence.

"Consider this pre-payment for your services. I actually have to go out tonight and will likely not be home until the wee hours." He then reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a key and a small scrap of paper.

"Here is the key, and here is the code to turn off the alarm. Please set it again when you leave. I'd appreciate if you started right away."

"O-of course!" Belle stuttered, feeling a bit embarrassed as she grabbed the stack of money first. She placed it into her purse with the other items and stood to leave.

As she did, though, she turned and looked once more at Mr. Gold. He exuded confidence, though his stature was actually quite small. He had long brown hair, lighter than her own, and kissed with silver. His eyes were chocolate brown and belied a hard life. As if he'd seen many things that he wished he hadn't.

But there was something else.

Belle couldn't shake the feeling that her new boss had a secret.

And mysteries were just asking to be uncovered.

* * *

"Killian, he's here! I told you he'd come!" Killian Jones' wife yelled frantically as she closed and locked the shutters of every window.

Killian didn't move. He was sat in his most comfortable chair, and he had a glass of rum in hand (his good hand, that is) and he wasn't planning to move anytime in the foreseeable future.

Milah, on the other hand, wouldn't stop pacing their small apartment, checking every lock and chaining the door.

"Milah," Killian finally said, "you might as well sit down and have yourself a nice drink. There's no stopping The Dark One."

The Dark One. GeneCo's most ruthless repoman. If someone was unfortunate enough to fall three months behind on their payments, they would send The Dark One to collect.

Killian was grateful that it was just his hand. Many others weren't so lucky.

He was pulled from his reverie by his front door being kicked in.

The Dark One wore a long lab coat of shiny black vinyl, which probably made it easier to clean. After being drenched in blood, one would just have to hose it down. A GeneCo repo mask hid his features, but through the thin opening of clear plastic from which the man could see, Killian could almost make out the man's eyes. They looked to be brown, and tired. But perhaps that was just a trick of the light.

Killian stood, and was proud when he swayed only slightly. He had been drinking all day in preparation for this moment. After all, they say you can't drink all day unless you start in the morning.

"Go on, Dark One," he taunted. "Do your worst."

As Milah watched on, eyes wide with horror, The Dark One removed a blade from a utility belt that hung from his waist. He moved slowly, deliberately. It wasn't until he was right in front of Jones that Milah noticed that her husband was a whole head taller than the man in black.

The repoman reached out and clutched Jones' left arm, just above the wrist. But as he raised his blade, he heard a scream.

As his blade came down, it did not take the debtor's hand. The man's wife had jumped in front of the blade, and it was buried deeply in her right shoulder.

"Milah!" Killian yelled, catching his wife as she fell in pain. As she fell, the blade came free of her body and blood splattered all over the repoman, and all over Killian. It ran down Milah's white blouse, soaking it in seconds.

The Dark One stayed silent, but watched intently as Killian lay his prone wife on the floor. Her blood soon stained the cheap tan carpet of their apartment, turning it nearly black.

"Help me!" Jones shouted at the silent man. "You did this! Help me or she'll die!"

In response, The Dark One simply shook his head.

With no warning, too preoccupied with his gravely injured wife, the blade swung once more.

This time, it took Killian's left hand. The hand lay across his wife's blood-soaked body for just a moment before the repoman slowly reached down and collected it.

Then without a word or even a glance back over his shoulder, The Dark One was gone.

* * *

"Hello?" Belle called as she entered the palatial house.

She knew that Gold must have money, but when she'd stepped up to the coral colored Victorian mansion she could hardly believe her eyes. The place was beautiful and opulent and didn't look like something that the reserved Mr. Gold would like at all!

He really was a mystery.

"Hello?" Came a weak voice from upstairs, and Belle immediately followed it.

She cracked open the door to a very large bedroom with blue walls and rock music posters everywhere.

"You must be Bae," she said to the small, pale boy on the bed. She tried to smile kindly, but seeing the boy's condition in person hurt her heart.

"Who are you?" he asked, without a hint of fear in his voice. Merely curiosity. "Did my papa send you?"

Belle gave a more genuine smile at that and sat down on the end of the boy's bed.

"Yes, actually, he did. I'm going to go fix you a nice dinner, and see that you have your medicine before bed. I'll stay until you're asleep, okay? Your father told me he'll be quite late tonight, but you shouldn't worry."

"Oh, I'm not worried about being here alone," Bae said. "I'm alone all the time."

That statement brought back a tightness in Belle's chest that she didn't expect, nor appreciate. Five minutes into meeting Gold's son and she was already feeling maternal.

_What a joke, _Belle thought, though her unkind thoughts had nothing to do with Bae. Just that she should have no idea how to be maternal, since she never had a mother of her own.

"Well, you don't have to be alone any more," Belle finally said, standing and heading for the door.

"I'll call you when dinner is ready. Or do you eat in your room?"

"No," Bae said, "I'll come down and eat with you."

Belle nodded and continued to smile and she headed down to the kitchen.

This job definitely wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

When Rum returned home, he found Belle asleep on his sofa with a book tossed to the floor next to her.

He hadn't expected her to stay. In fact, that hadn't been part of their deal at all. She would be a lot better off if she didn't stay, in fact.

Checking himself in the mirror, he found an errant spot of blood on his chin and absently wiped it away.

Yes, it was definitely better if Belle didn't stay.

"Miss French," he whispered, shaking her gently by a shoulder.

"Hmmmmm," she mumbled, groggily, slowly opening one eye and then the other.

"What time is it?" she asked, sitting up so quickly that she knocked a teacup off a nearby table. As it crashed to the ground, Belle gasped and dove for it. She missed horribly, and when she lifted the cup from the floor she looked sheepishly up at her employer and said, "I'm so sorry…but it's chipped. You can hardly see it."

Rum couldn't help but grin at her. Her hair was a mess and she had drooled on herself in her sleep, and now here she was fussing over a cup.

"It's three in the morning," he answered her first question, helping her up off the floor. "And don't worry about it. It's just a cup."

He then reached down and retrieved her book.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Belle whisper-yelled, conscious of Bae asleep upstairs. "I didn't feel right leaving Bae all alone, so I grabbed a book and thought I'd read until you got home. I had some tea to try and stay awake but I must have fallen asleep…"

"Yes, I'd say that's a certainty," Gold said with a hint of a laugh.

Belle looked at him with wide eyes, as if he'd startled her.

"Are you teasing me?" she asked, perfectly serious.

"Well, you've made it quite easy," was his reply.

Belle let out a laugh that was so sincere, it made Gold's heart skip a beat.

He had to be careful around this woman. She was too beautiful, too kind…too good.

And he sullied everything good in his life.

* * *

"You look tired today, darling Rum," Cora said with false concern. She ran her hand over his stiff shoulders and he suppressed a shudder.

Whatever Cora had once been to him, it was dust in the wind. She had made quite sure of that.

He didn't respond to her jab about his current state, but he did get right to another matter.

"I need more medicine for Bae. His body is still rejecting the GeneCo liver. So either give me more medicine, or give him another liver."

"You know the deal, Rum," Cora said, dropping her caring facade. "You haven't done enough jobs for me yet to pay for another operation."

"I do more than enough jobs for you!" Rum screamed, slamming his hands down on Cora's tidy desk. "Plus you know I can afford to pay for the operation straight out! I own half the properties in this repulsive little town. Please, I'll give you anything!"

Cora sat down behind her desk and looked up at him. She smiled, that thin reptilian smile that made Rum wonder just how much work she'd had done, herself.

"You know that's not how things work between us," she said. "There's nothing you have that I want, other than your skills. Not anymore. You can keep your money, because until you've done at least one more big job for me, you're not getting another drop of medicine for your boy."

Snarling, Rum reached into a plastic-lined satchel he carried and threw a severed hand down on Cora's desk, right on top of some paperwork. There was still blood at the wrist, and Rum felt a sense of satisfaction when it splattered onto a few of her documents and pooled upon the shiny mahogany of her desk top.

"Here," he said, teeth bared. "Killian Jones' debt is repaid."

"Yes, I can see that," Cora said, looking from the hand up into Rum's eyes. "But this was just his debt to me. What about his debt to you?"

"That's been repaid, as well. Though purely be accident. Milah is dead. Threw herself in front of him. I never knew the power of true love before; it is impressive."

"Oh, Rum," Cora feigned an exasperated sigh, "no need to be bitter. Killian Jones is a handsome, charming man. Everything that you're not. I would have run away with him, too."

Gold refused to rise to that bait. Instead, he turned and left the room before he did something that endangered Bae's future.

Cora continued to smile.

* * *

Gold went out again that night, and the night after that. There seemed to be an endless number of debtors, and the streets were also filled with junkies hooked on Zydrate…a painkiller that they were able to syphon from corpses who had had transplants and other surgeries.

It was from these grave robbers that Gold sometimes stooped to buying medicine for his son. Just something to ease the pain until he wallowed enough for Cora's liking and was given the real medicine that Bae required.

"Do you have any tonight, Jefferson?"

The man wore a mismatched set of clothing…pinstriped pants with a checkered shirt and a long wool coat. On his head sat an overly large top hat. He looked half mad, but he was the best Zydrate dealer in all of Storybrooke.

"I have a bit. Things have been slow."

"Slow?!" Gold snapped. "I've been repossessing transplants every night!"

"Yes," Jefferson sighed, talking slowly to Gold as if he were a child, "But each repossession isn't necessarily fatal. I can only get Zydrate from the dead…I can't very well go around sticking needles into people on the street, now can I?"

Gold frowned by said nothing.

Jefferson held up a small vial of greenish liquid and said, "do you want the drugs or not?"

"Hmmmm," Gold toyed with the other man, pretending to think. But of course he needed it…for Bae. "Yes," he finally answered, quickly grabbing the vial from Jefferson's hand.

"Here," Gold said, shoving some cash at the dealer, then turning and walking away as quickly as he could without seeming desperate.

"Always a pleasure," Jefferson mumbled under his breath.

* * *

Belle was usually asleep on the sofa when Rum returned home at night. She had been every night for the past month.

He always roused her in the same way. They talked for a bit, exchanged some light flirtation, and then she was on her way.

But this night, as he checked himself in his mirror, he had the strangest feeling that something was different.

She was waiting up for him.

"I couldn't sleep," she said by way of an explanation, though he hadn't actually asked.

Rising from the sofa and walking over to him, Gold thought that there was something different about her. Her shoulders were set, and she looked as if she might eat him alive. He swallowed noisily.

"You, uh…you have some blood on your nose," Belle said gently as she stepped closer to Gold. His first instinct was to run away as fast as he could, but her eyes held him in place. They were bluer than the summer sky, and three times as beautiful.

Gold said nothing as his…friend…? (Was she his friend now?) …reached up and wiped the blood away with the pad of her thumb.

"Belle," he breathed as she cupped his cheek. "You don't understand. You can't understand…"

"I understand that you love your son," Belle interrupted. "I understand that there's more to you than a simple employee of GeneCo. And I want to know, Mr. Gold. You have no idea how badly I want to know."

"Rum," he said, still whispering. "Please…my name is Rum."

"Rum," Belle repeated. "I like it. It suits you. Don't care much for the drink, though."

Rum gave her a lopsided smile. "Neither do I."

Her warm hand was still upon his cheek when he closed the distance between them with a chaste kiss.

Belle surprised him by deepening the kiss and running her tongue over his bottom lip. She tasted of strawberries and chocolate, and Rum thought that she must be the last perfect thing left in a broken and fucked up world.

He was completely pliant as she slowly moved them over to the sofa, and then turned them and pushed Rum down.

"Belle?" he began, startled by her actions.

As she stood above him, she slowly began unbuttoning her blouse.

"I have to tell you something," she said.

As she let the pretty light blue blouse fall open and expose skin-tone bra edged in lace, Rum saw the long scar running vertically between her breasts.

"This is why my father is poor and practically starving," Belle explained, nodding toward the scar. "I told you once that any money I get is sent to me by my father…but, truly, it goes to GeneCo. You see, they gave me a new heart. I took the internship there in hopes of getting in good with Cora Mills, or even her daughter. But those two…they're just awful. They don't care about anyone or anything. I don't even think Cora loves her daughter."

Rum barked a sarcastic laugh at that. "She doesn't. At least, not in the way any normal mother loves her child. She has Regina solidly under her thumb. I would know…she made me repossess the colon of a young man that Regina had been engaged to. Cora didn't much care for him, you see. He was too common for her liking. After he died, Regina became a shell of the person she once was. Pay her no mind."

"So it's true, then. You are a repoman," Belle said. It was not a question.

"Not just any repoman," Rum said, studying Belle very closely. "THE repoman."

Belle slipped her blouse off of her shoulders as she stated matter-of-factly, "you're The Dark One."

Rum nodded. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Belle smiled. "I had my suspicions. The incredibly late nights keeping you away from your son when I could tell you'd rather be at home. The way you always check your appearance in that mirror. Sometimes I see you take out a handkerchief and wipe away a bit of something from your face or neck. But, mostly, it was your eyes."

"My eyes," Rum repeated as Belle slipped off her bra, exposing pale breasts with pert pink nipples that were already hard.

"Your eyes," Belle said again. She hiked up her short skirt and straddled his lap.

Rum suppressed a moan as Belle began to ride him, her breasts in his face and her hot cunt on his growing erection. She rubbed through her panties and his trousers, and he couldn't resist pulling one of her nipples into his mouth and sucking, letting it go with a little 'pop.'

"You see," Belle said, somewhat breathlessly as she continued to rub against him, enjoying the friction and their closeness, "your eyes say that you've seen things that you'd rather not have seen. Your eyes betray you."

Rum was surprised that he was capable of forming a coherent sentence when he said, "I'll have to have a talk with them, then."

Belle ground down onto him even harder after that, and he felt her shudder as she came. He wasted no time unzipping his fly and pulling out his hard length before he followed suit. He pushed her panties aside and was inside of her before she had even come down from her climax.

She was so wet that she was surely staining his suit, and he couldn't have possibly cared less. He'd gladly wear her arousal as a badge of honor. Belle moaned into the side of his neck as he plunged into her, but it had been so long that he knew he wouldn't last long.

Slipping a hand between them, he used two fingers to rub the sensitive bud above her entrance as he bucked faster. He used the other hand to steady her.

"Rum," she moaned as he felt her inner walls shudder around him. He gave one last push and spilled himself into her, her heat and wetness milking every last bit of pleasure from him.

Belle made no move to get up, and he was in no hurry to remove his cock from his new favorite place.

As their breathing slowed, Belle was the first to speak, "If it hadn't been for you, they'd have taken my heart by now."

"What?" Rum had certainly not expected that.

"I was two months behind on my payments when I began working for GeneCo. Two and a half months behind when you gave me the job here. I was able to make payments again. Not only are you Bae's hero, but you're my hero, too."

"Wait," Rum said, finally pulling out of Belle and cursing himself when even that felt amazing. He adjusted himself and zipped his trousers, and he was now glaring at Belle.

"Is that why you did this? Did you think you had to _repay _me somehow?"

"What?" Belle was aghast. "No, of course not - !"

"Of course it is!" Rum stood and pushed Belle away. "I knew this was a trick! I knew you could never care for me!"

"Rum, what is wrong with you?!" Belle had to yell just to be heard over him. He seemed to have forgotten that Bae was upstairs sleeping. "I never do anything that I don't want to do! And I wanted to be with you!"

"LIAR!" he screamed. "You're just like all the rest!"

Tears were welling up in Belle's eyes as she pulled her clothes on. "I want to get to know the real you! I want to know Bae's father and forget all the rest of it! I…I love you! Why won't you believe me!"

It was then that Rum took her roughly by the arm and pushed her toward the door.

"Because no one, no one could ever EVER love me!" he screamed as he pushed her through the door and slammed it in her face.

* * *

**THREE MONTHS LATER…**

Cora threw the file down in front of Rum and he frowned.

"I won't do it," he said.

"I'm afraid you really have no choice, dear," Cora said, and Rum wished he could wipe the smug smile right off her face. Preferably by way of decapitation.

The name on the file was Belle French.

And it was all his fault.

He had only seen her in passing at GeneCo since the night they'd fucked and he'd thrown her from his home. She had never come back to care for Bae.

The boy asked about her, of course. He had grown fond of her, and Rum felt even worse for taking away a companion from his son.

But they could not take back what they had done, and he could not take back what he'd said. Afterward, he'd realized what a fool he'd been. He'd panicked. He'd been played for a fool too many times by women like Cora and Milah…

But Belle was nothing like them. She was good. And he had ruined it, just like he ruined everything else.

"I'll make her payments," he told Cora. "I'll pay off her entire balance right now. Just tell me the amount."

"I don't think so," Cora said, her smugness dissolving into pure hatred. "You see, I know about the two of you. I have eyes and ears all over this wretched town. I don't know why you broke things off with her…or, if I'm being sensible, she probably broke things off with you. After all, no woman wants to be with a pathetic coward. But if you do this one last job for me, it'll prove once and for all that you can do anything…that you're not the coward I've always taken you for. Plus, I'll give you the thing you want most in the entire cosmos."

Gold gasped as Cora finished. "Bae's liver."

* * *

Belle knew that he would be coming.

In a way, she had always known.

But she had never let anyone decide what she did or how she felt. Not in her entire life. And she wasn't about to start now.

During her time at GeneCo she had been able to collect enough dirt on the company to put Cora Mills in prison for multiple lifetimes.

She had taken the files over to her father's lawyer and instructed him not to look at anything until it was time. She assured him that he would know when that time came.

And now, it was time.

Belle still had the key and security code for Gold's house. He had never missed the ornate knife that she'd lifted from his collection of curious baubles. It had a wavy blade about a foot long with carvings throughout, and a thick black handle. It certainly looked theatrical enough for her purposes.

She now stood on the ledge of GeneCo's 48th floor, with news cameras hovering all around. She wore a fitted gold slip dress that clung to her frame and billowed in the high winds whipping around her.

She saw a close-up of herself broadcast on the screen that graced the highest tower of Storybrooke, and that's when she spoke.

"GO ON, REPOMAN! TRY AND TAKE MY HEART FOR ALL TO SEE!"

She lifted the blade dramatically and sing-songed the last words she'd ever say.

"NO ONE DECIDES MY FATE BUT ME!"

With that, she plunged the blade into her own chest.

* * *

She was too high up. He could never have reached her in time.

At least, that's what he told himself.

When she fell, he couldn't even catch her. There were too many spectators, and her lifeless body hitting someone from a fall at that height would have killed a second person.

Not that he wasn't willing to die, now. But he had Bae to think about.

The last time he ever saw Belle, she was splattered on the pavement with his own knife in her chest.

He might as well have killed her himself.

* * *

**ONE MONTH LATER…**

Cora Mills was behind bars for good. She was a flight risk, so she would stay in prison until her trial. Regina had never been charged, due to lack of evidence that she knew of her mother's more shady dealings.

GeneCo was therefore under Regina's control, and repossessions had stopped.

Gold couldn't have been happier to be out of a job.

Regina had actually kept her mother's word, and provided a new working liver for Bae. The boy could now run and play and even go to school with other children. He would be fine.

Gold, on the other hand, was broken beyond all repair.

Belle could have been his light amidst an ocean of darkness…but he couldn't take the chance. And she had proven once and for all that he was a coward, and she was the bravest woman he'd ever known.

She'd brought down Cora Mills, something that no one else had ever been able to do. The madwoman would never see the light of day again, and people once again felt safe in their homes.

But as Rum looked sadly at the china cabinet in his living room, and saw a pretty tea cup with a tiny chip in the rim, he couldn't stop the tears that flowed freely more often now.

Belle had sacrificed everything to save everyone in Storybrooke. Yet, her name was already fading into obscurity, making way for the next new thing.

But Rum Gold would never forget. He would never forget the crystalline blue eyes or the bright red lips or the dazzling smile. He would never forget making love spontaneously on the very couch he now sat upon. He would never forget the woman who wanted nothing more than to learn all of The Dark One's secrets and love him anyway.

And yet, now, all he had left of his beautiful Belle was an empty heart…and a chipped cup.

**THE END.**


End file.
